Thomas
Thomas is a tank engine from Brighton. History Thomas was built in Brighton Works in 1914. He underwent trial runs on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway and then was sent to Barrow-In-Furness. There he assisted in the construction of the Walney Channel Bridge, linking Sodor to the mainland. When the bridge was completed, Thomas helped linking Sodor's railways together to form the North Western Railway. In 1915 he was purchased by the NWR and was stationed as a pilot engine in Vicarstown. He remained there until 1923 when after several escapades out on the main line took him out of his yard, he was transferred to Wellsworth where he was put in charge of shunting trucks. Following a rescue operation, saving James the Red Engine, he was awarded the duties of running the branch line from Knapford to Ffarquhar. Over the years Thomas has had numerous adventures as documented by the Thin Clergyman in The Railway Series. His earliest ones include forgetting his guard, going fishing by the river, getting stuck in the snow, and racing Bertie the Bus. In the 1950s Thomas has been ticketed by a policeman, saved from running into a landslide, falling down a mine, and damaging his bufferbeam before a special visit to England. In 1964, Thomas had an accident involving the stationmaster's house. He was sent to the works to be repaired and received a major overhaul. He now has larger tanks and a larger bunker. In the following years he was visited by Stepney the Bluebell Engine, spooked by Percy's ghost train and amused by the latter's accident with treacle and hay. After a quiet life during the 1970s Thomas found himself having more thrilling adventures. These include stopping some thieves, pulling the express, getting into an argument concerning coal dust, becoming a runaway, visiting the National Railway Museum, receiving a visit from Wilbert the Forest Engine and celebrating the Railway Series's 50th anniversary. In 2000, Thomas uncovered mysteries surrounding Mr. Conductor's energy supply and learned that a trans-dimensional railway existed. During these adventures he befriended Lily, a girl from the other side of the world. He helped to bring a lost engine back to life and thwart the plans of some sinister enemies. Things got quiet again after the start of the 21st century with very few escapades. In 2007 Thomas found an old coach who was restored for Toby's quarry train. In 2011 Thomas helped celebrate the 100th birthday of the Thin Clergyman, in 2014 Thomas was put on a special train to celebrate the 100th anniversaries of his life and the NWR and in 2015 the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series were celebrated. Persona Thomas is a rather cheeky, but good hearted engine and generally behaves well, except when he is getting into mishap. He loves teasing the others and, on occasion, brags about his superiority, but is always brought down to earth in due course. If Thomas has one major character flaw, it is that he is forgetful, and slightly impatient. However, he is also optimistic and idealistic. Basis Thomas is based on the Billington E2-Class 0-6-0T locomotives built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway between 1913 and 1916. When built in 1914, he was used as a prototype for the second batch of E2s which featured the distinctive extended side tanks The E2s were introduced in 1913 to replace earlier members of the E1 class, which had been scrapped. The last five in the ten strong class had extended side tanks to give a greater water capacity, but all engines had two inside cylinders and driving wheels 4'6" in diameter. After many years of service, all of the Billington E2s, both original and modified, spent their last working years at Southampton Docks and they were all scrapped by 1963.. In 1964 Thomas was overhauled after a serious accident in which he crashed into the stationmaster's house. His modifications include larger side tanks and bunker, a straight running board as opposed to the original curved, a taller blastpipe and the addition of splashers over his lead driving wheels. Livery Thomas is painted in the North Western Railway's standard blue livery with red-and-yellow lining and the number "1" painted on his tank sides in yellow with a red border. When performing the trial runs on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway, Thomas was painted black with vermilion lining, and the letters L.B.S.C. painted on his side tanks in yellow. Category:Engines Category:Steam Engines Category:Island of Sodor